Lyric Fairy Tale in three acts
Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil based on: Udine, by Friedrich de la Motte Fougué, The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen and The Sunken Bell by Gerhart Hauptmann
World premiere: March 31st 1901, National Theatre, Prague

A production from the Opéra national de Lorraine
Sung in Czech with German surtitles

Duration: c. 3 1/2 hrs. with two intervals

About the piece

Director and Stage Designer Jim Lucassen set Dvořák’s fairy tale opera in a national history museum, a paradigmatic space where di ...

Director and Stage Designer Jim Lucassen set Dvořák’s fairy tale opera in a national history museum, a paradigmatic space where different worlds and times converge. Rusalka’s home, an inanimate exhibit during the day, comes to life at night. When the water nymph enters the hostile civilisation at the Prince’s court she finds that only a withered skeleton of nature has survived. Lucassen’s clear and sensitive production was highly praised when it was first performed in Nancy in 2010 and revived in Montpellier in 2011. The first performances of this production, in September 2013, were the first time that this important Czech opera had been performed in Frankfurt for 24 years.

Synopsis

Rusalka is desperate to become human so because she has fallen in love with a Prince. The Water Sprite tries to make her change h ...

Rusalka is desperate to become human so because she has fallen in love with a Prince. The Water Sprite tries to make her change her mind but she is determined. She calls for the witch Jezibaba, who mocks her delusional wishes but eventually grants her wishes on condition that she agrees to be mute in the world of men. She is also warned that should she ever loose the Prince's love she will be doomed for eternity. The Prince fall in love with her and leads her away as his bride. A week later the Prince is hurt by Rusalka's lack of passion. This makes it easy for a foreign Princess to lure him into her arms. Hopeless and dejected Rusalka returns to her place of origin, miserable that she can neither live or die. Jezibaba tells her that she can return to her former existence if she kills the Prince. She cannot bring herself to destroy his happiness and so seals her fate to wander forever between the worlds as a will-o'-the-wisp. The Prince comes to ask for forgiveness. Rusalka warns him that her kiss will bring about his death but he longs to die in her arms. She relents, he dies and Rusalka asks God to take pity on his soul before disappearing into the void.

Photo gallery

With generous support from the Frankfurt Patronatsverein - Sektion Oper